THE ABSENCE OF COMMUNICATION AS A RISK FACTOR WITHIN MANAGEMENT

They say people always communicate. If we do not really speak, then we speak with our gestures or facial expressions. Or we can talk by not talking. Every action has a communication aspect. So when I write about missing communication or the absence of communication, I am referring more to the absence of clear and correct oral or written communication. So I am deliberately not interested in the effects of body language or voice variance, which, of course, have a great effect on the first and secondly can have effects that cannot be created by the spoken word. Rather, the focus is on two directions of communication. This is the communication between management and employees and at management level. Correctly aligning both types can become a crucial competitive advantage.

Coordination is important, but not at any price

A consistent understanding of a company's strategic orientation, i. e. a clear, jointly developed mission statement, and a powerful vision are in my view the basic elements of a good management team. When interviewing different members of a management team on these issues, statements should follow in the same direction. It is not a question of memorized words, but of the unidirectionalness of communication. It may be individual and thus authentic, but in its entirety it must produce a coherent picture. Only if a regular exchange of leadership team on these issues is established can the organization effectively assume the mission, pursue the vision and implement the strategy.

Honest and clear instead of protective and vain

Clarity is powerful. Clear communication in particular. If you are a top manager who speaks to all of your employees in a very critical phase and you need to prepare for a challenging year, then this is essential. If, for example, the manager does not talk about the difficult situation of the company, but instead reports about challenges in the market that the management team allegedly has under control, a sense of irritation develops. This is because organisations are usually very well informed and in this example almost everyone in the room would be aware that the management team does not have a good grip on the situation. The result would be mistrust and uncertainty. How powerful would it be if this manager presented himself to the team with clear and honest messages:"Yes, the market is challenging".
"Yes, our company is threatened."
"No, we don't have a comprehensive solution to the situation in the management team right now."
"Yes, we are working on it with all our strength and we need every employee who is willing to give everything and to cope with the situation together."

More emotional communication please

My hypothesis is that true leaders are able to use their emotions powerfully. The beauty is that emotions are always honest. I even believe that people almost always notice it when someone does not communicate in harmony with their emotions. Something's just not right. I'm not talking about transmitting everything you feel directly, but there is a great power in authentically choosing the right messages in harmony with your emotions. Both within a team of managers and towards the employees. So if an executive is afraid of not being able to survive in a challenging market or feels a certain helplessness, he can address this as in the example above and transform it into something powerful. And this applies to fear as well as to anger, sadness, worry, joy and enthusiasm. I look forward to a world where these skills are not interpreted as weakness, but as strength.